


Superman

by lizcltr



Category: K-pop, Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Injury, M/M, fluff with a tiny bit of angst, which is more like frustration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 09:15:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21195248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizcltr/pseuds/lizcltr
Summary: Kihyun breaks his rib and can't dance at their concert in LA and has to deal with the aftermath. Himself, specifically.





	Superman

**Author's Note:**

> Roughly inspired by that concert in LA they streamed on Vlive. Because when Kihyun sat and sang and talked and the others were so visibly worried and taking care of him, my heart hurt a bit. I hope you enjoy.

Kihyun is thankful once they finally reach the hotel, LA traffic not even letting up in the middle of the night and dragging out their journey. He tries not to wince or whimper all the time as his rib gets jostled, but the painkillers have worn off a while ago, and his injury is a constant burn again. He tries to deal with it, quietly.

Hoseok has held his hand through the entire ride, and now he tries to help Kihyun out of the van, but Kihyun pushes all helping hands away with a strained smile. After the concert had ended, he had received an earful from his boyfriend and his members about being reckless, even though they were more fond than mad and understood his point all too well. Still, now they try to take care of him by making sure he doesn’t do _anything_. He already feels as if under a lockdown, suffocated.

“Do you want me to shower with you?” Hoseok asks in a low murmur close to his ear as they slowly walk towards the elevators. Kihyun is tired, the concert and meeting all those people afterwards has worn him out, and he can’t simultaneously walk slowly and hold composure enough to not put too much strain on the cracked rib. He has to slouch forward a bit, take on a protective posture, and it only adds to his exhaustion.

“It’s fine,” Kihyun says with a shake of his head. Any other day he’d like to have his boyfriend with him in the shower, wet and hot and still high on the post-concert rush, but today, it would just be Hoseok fussing around him. Kihyun simply wants to breathe.

“I know it’s just a fractured rib,” Minhyuk butts in from Kihyun’s other side. “Or whatever it was that you said to the company. But you’re tired and you already overdid it.” He looks worried as Kihyun throws him a short glance. “It would be better to let someone help you.”

He can see Hoseok nod out of the corner of his eye, a similarly concerned expression on his face.

“It’s fine,” Kihyun repeats, making sure to leave all annoyance out of his tone. He knows that they simply want to take care of him and want him to be safe and in good condition. Kihyun thinks back to when Hoseok had his acute shoulder problems and collapsed on stage. Kihyun felt like he would buzz out of his skin whenever he was away from his boyfriend after that.

But right now, Kihyun feels smothered. Since he has been to the hospital, it’s been constant coddling and fighting. Nobody wanted to let him do anything, least of all participate in the concert. Most of Kihyun’s energy had actually gone into fighting for that, for being able to stand on that stage as well, to not be forced to sit in the hotel room, waiting for his members to come back, ecstatic and high and successful, and for him to spend hours upon hours alone with his thoughts and his heavy heart and his regrets.

He knows that the fans think he did it all for them, he heard what his members said at the concert. That he is superman. Kihyun can’t even smile at the thought. He did it for the fans, that was no lie. He wanted to keep his promise at all cost. But he also wanted to do it for a selfish reason, and he had admitted it on stage as well. Had he not been able to participate, he would have regretted that until the day he died. Had he not been able to perform at least the bits he did, not only would his rib have hurt, but his heart as well. He hadn’t wanted to let it come to that.

“Want me to order you some food?” Hoseok asks quietly as they enter the elevator. He strokes a finger up Kihyun’s arm once the elevator doors have closed, and Kihyun is wary of the stinging pain when he leans against his boyfriend for a moment, closing his eyes.

“’m not really hungry,” Kihyun answers in a mumble.

“The doctor said you need to eat with the medication,” Hoseok says softly, and Kihyun can’t help but roll his eyes. He immediately feels sorry for it, Hoseok doesn’t deserve this treatment when all he wants to do is make sure Kihyun is okay. Kihyun presses a kiss to Hoseok’s shoulder in apology, thankful that everyone else inside the elevator chooses not to comment and to avert their eyes.

He doesn’t say anything else until he’s back inside his room, Hoseok having led him there and opened the door for him. Hoseok promised to come right back to him, just depositing his stuff in his own room and getting a change of clothes. Kihyun sits at the edge of the bed, careful to do it slowly enough as to not aggravate the rib. He takes a couple deep breaths, feels like this is the first time he can breathe freely again since he first told someone that he’s in pain, not scrutinized and judged and coddled.

There comes a knock from the door, and before Kihyun can really react to it, the door already opens after a card swipe and a beep, and Hyunwoo enters. He looks calm, not especially concerned, but Kihyun knows their leader. He’s checking up on him because he is in fact worried about him.

“How are you feeling?” Hyunwoo asks and steps closer.

“Tired,” Kihyun answers honestly. There is not much left from the stage high, not much left of the uplifting feeling of standing on that dream stage, there’s just his cracked rib and everyone putting it above everything else that happened. That is still happening.

“You did well today,” Hyunwoo says, and it surprises Kihyun a little bit. Not because Hyunwoo never compliments him, or because he feels like he did badly – he will never not feel sorry about not being able to perform to the best of his abilities for their fans. But he did the best he could in this situation, Kihyun knows that. Hyunwoo does too, apparently, and he seems to not be here to offer more help or advice. Kihyun is grateful for that.

“Thanks,” Kihyun says simply. “You did too, you all dealt really well with only being six to perform.”

“You were still there,” Hyunwoo retorts calmly. “We were all seven, and that’s what made this so good today. You really were amazing on stage tonight, I’m glad you and your energy were there.”

Kihyun lowers his gaze to the ground and his teeth gnaw on his bottom lip.

“After worrying about your health, I immediately worried about the fact that our main vocalist would have to sit out of what would probably be the biggest show outside of Korea for the year,” Hyunwoo continues, and Kihyun is a bit surprised again, at how open and honest the older is with his words. It usually doesn’t happen this directly and bluntly. “Every member of Monsta X is irreplaceable, especially on stage. And especially the energy of the main vocalist, of Kihyun, and I’m thankful that you did that, and that you persevered.”

Kihyun doesn’t really know what to do with these words and sentiments, so he nods a little unsurely and gives Hyunwoo a small smile.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Hyunwoo wants to know. Kihyun has to think for a moment. The others are all quick to suggest something to him, ask him yes or no-questions, so now that Hyunwoo wants to know what Kihyun actually wants from him – another surprise. Kihyun is not used to not being able to read Hyunwoo well. Maybe the rib is fucking with his head, or maybe it’s the meds, or the fact that he is beyond exhausted. Maybe it’s all of it.

“Keep the managers away?” is Kihyun’s first thought. He feels a little bad about it, knows that they care and want to make sure he’s okay, just like his members do, just like the fans do. But while he doesn’t want to lock out his members, his brothers, his boyfriend, he doesn’t want to deal with any more management and their suggestions and advice and rules and regulations. He just wants to shower and sleep.

“Will do, but tomorrow morning they’ll not let up anymore,” Hyunwoo agrees. Kihyun nods, aware that they have put him through the metaphorical wringer after the concert enough already. He hopes they will leave him alone with their suggestions and appointments for longer than just until the next morning, but he’ll take what he can get.

The lock on the door beeps once again, and this time it’s Hoseok with Jooheon and Changkyun in tow. The younger ones immediately crowd close to Kihyun, careful not to touch him too hard or to jostle him, but Kihyun still shrinks back a bit as they approach. He forces himself to relax as they start asking questions and feel his forehead and neck, Jooheon holding his hand tight and Changkyun talking about the concert, something along the lines that Kihyun truly is a kind of superman and that he is thankful and that he is worried.

Kihyun looks up and sees Hoseok and Hyunwoo talk, standing a couple steps away, and suddenly a deep calm washes over him. He only half-listens to what the two rappers are saying to him, only humming in response, but he lets them hold him, lets their arms sling around him, lets them fuss over him all they want.

Kihyun knows the other two will also still visit him before they go to bed, to make sure he’s fine, to make sure he knows they love him. And he knows they all love him. He’s known all along, he’s known when he came back with the diagnosis and they had been worried about his health and his safety, he’s known when they took his side in the argument with the managers, he’s known during the concert, when each of them tried to take care of him in their own way. He knows, because now that they don’t have to fulfill a stage persona, they really go all out with their care and concern, and he finds that he sincerely appreciates it. He loves them just as much, wants to take care of them just as much.

“Guys, let him breathe a bit,” Hyunwoo reprimands softly once he and Hoseok turn back to Kihyun. Hoseok looks on fondly, his concern dialed back, but Kihyun knows it will be a constant until he’s healed. Just how even now, Kihyun himself worries about Hoseok’s shoulder.

“It’s really fine,” Kihyun finally manages to say, but this time it’s not strained or dismissive, it’s genuine. “It hurts a bit, but that’s to be expected. I’ll eat something and take the meds and then take a shower and try to sleep. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Kihyun thinks back to his words during the concert, how he didn’t know if he will feel better or worse afterwards. It’s both. It hurts more, but he is satisfied, thankful, happy, even. He would not have liked to regret this, he would not have liked to have his heart broken along with his rib. So, this is good. Having his best friends worry about him is good. Having his boyfriend take care of him is good. Having his wonderful, wonderful fans scream for him and send him positive messages on social media is good.

“Alright, you heard the man,” Hoseok says and Kihyun can see the relief in his eyes. Hoseok must have realized that Kihyun managed to shake off the frustration that had taken hold of him. Now that he thinks about it, it was frustration at himself, at the injury, at the bad timing, at the fact that it happened at all; and he projected it outwards, tried to find scapegoats for it. He took it out on them.

“Goodnight, Kihyun,” Hyunwoo says, and the younger ones echo him immediately, telling Kihyun that he really should rest up and not jostle the rib too much and definitely take the medication and just call if he needs anything. Kihyun nods and smiles at them, thanks them sincerely, tells them he loves them. He doesn’t want to regret pushing away their help all day long, he doesn’t want to regret not paying enough attention to them because he was lost in thought or in pain or in exhaustion.

“I ordered some food,” Hoseok informs him once he shoved the others out the door and returns to Kihyun’s side. He runs a hand through Kihyun’s hair and takes the hint as Kihyun closes his eyes and groans, leaning into the touch. Hoseok keeps his hand there and starts massaging Kihyun’s scalp, his fingers tangling in the stiff strands of styled hair.

“We are a pair,” Kihyun sighs out. “Fucked up shoulder, fucked up ribs, too stubborn for our own good.”

Hoseok chuckles softly. “A good pair,” he counters gently. “Taking care of each other, dealing with each other’s bullshit, and taking the world by storm on the side somewhere.”

Kihyun sighs. “I’m sorry,” he says.

“Don’t apologize,” Hoseok immediately answers. “You’re injured, and in pain, and didn’t want to miss out on something all of us literally have dreamt of for our entire career so far.” Hoseok smiles softly down at his boyfriend and once Kihyun opens his eyes, he can’t look away. “And we all didn’t make it easy for you. And yet you still managed to blow everyone away.”

Kihyun gives a wry smile but doesn’t respond. Just as the calm has washed over him, now it’s a bone-deep fatigue that takes over and makes him sink into himself. His rib stings, as if to remind him that it can cause him more burning and prickling than just the constant pulsing of pain he can’t get used to. Still, he tilts forward until he can lean into Hoseok, until his forehead hits Hoseok’s abs, until he can breathe in the musk of his boyfriend.

“You want to shower first or wait for the food first?” Hoseok asks, carding his fingers through Kihyun’s hair.

“Food first,” Kihyun decides after a moment of contemplation. “And then I’ll take the painkillers and then hopefully they already work by the time I’m done showering.”

“Alright,” Hoseok says, gently rubbing down Kihyun’s neck. “Come on, I’ll help you get out of these clothes for now, and then you can get comfortable for the food.”

Kihyun leans back a bit so he can look up to Hoseok. He smiles, genuinely. “Thank you,” he says. Hoseok cups his check with one hand, his thumb brushing over the cheekbone ever so softly.

“Of course,” Hoseok says, smile so soft and fond it feels warm in Kihyun’s belly, feels like it’s helping with mending the fracture in his rib, feels like understanding and acceptance and love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
